Death of Si Mohamed Baghdadi, former president of the COA

The former president of the Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee (COA), Si Mohamed Baghdadi, died on Saturday at the age of 86, the COA announced.

Born on June 26, 1937 in Souk Ahras, the late Si Mohamed Baghdadi first had a career as a high-level athlete by winning the title of Algerian champion in the 800 m and 4×400 m, before occupying the President of the Algerian Athletics Federation from 1967 to 1969.

Distinguished professor of letters, renowned writer, then headmaster at the Lycée El-Mokrani in Ben Aknoun, the late man subsequently joined the Ministry of Youth and Sports, where he was director of the education and sport department and then secretary general. He retired in 1986, before being elected to the post of President of the Algerian Olympic Committee (March 1988 – November 1989).

Also an actor, he held the role of Larbi Ben M’hidi, in the film The Battle of Algiers (1966) by Gillo Pontecorvo.

At the continental level, Si Mohamed Baghdadi was a member of the High Council for Sport in Africa, of which he was for a long time one of the illustrious leaders.

The President of the Algerian Olympic and Sports Committee offered his sincere condolences to the family of the deceased.